House Republicans will move forward with holding United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for no-showing at a congressional hearing on Tuesday focused on President Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.
In remarks, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) explained, “After months of the secretary ignoring countless requests for his testimony, I was forced to subpoena him to discuss the findings of my report into the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
“Secretary Blinken violated that subpoena and refused to appear. And now, I have no choice but to move forward with holding him in contempt of Congress,” he added.
McCaul added that he asked Blinken for his availability for months.
“But instead of working with me, Secretary Blinken made false promises and accused me of politicizing this important issue,” he said. “By failing to appear before the committee to discuss this serious event, he is politicizing the Afghanistan withdrawal.”
“His spokesperson has also presented outright lies on his behalf, both to the press and the American people. He claims Secretary Blinken has appeared 14 times before Congress and four times before my committee to discuss Afghanistan,” he continued. “However, the facts speak for themselves. The secretary has never testified on this committee’s investigation — not once.”
Blinken was subpoenaed earlier this month. Instead of showing up at the hearing, he was with Biden at events associated with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to several outlets.
According to the Associated Press, Blinken, in a letter to McCaul, said that he was “profoundly disappointed” in the chairman’s decision to advance contempt proceedings and urged him to find a resolution in “good faith.”
“As I have made clear, I am willing to testify and have offered several reasonable alternatives to the dates unilaterally demanded by the Committee during which I am carrying out the President’s important foreign policy objectives,” Blinken wrote.
Thirteen American servicemembers died during Biden's disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, which occurred in August 2021.
"Rather than take accountability for this, the secretary hides from the American people," McCaul said. "He would prefer to hide rather than be before this committee today."
"He has prioritized politics and optics over the needs of our servicemembers, our Gold Star families, and the American people."